TEHRAN (FNA)- Angela Merkel was re-elected by the German Parliament to a fourth term as chancellor following months of political deadlock.

Lawmakers voted by 364 to 315 in favour of re-electing the 63-year-old after Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) decided earlier this month to enter another coalition with Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), The Independent reported.

The two are joined by the CDU's Bavaria-only sister party the Christian Social Union in another "grand coalition" which has 399 seats.

The same parties have governed for the past four years but putting together the new coalition has been hard work. The Social Democrats initially planned to go into opposition.

Wednesday's parliamentary vote comes 171 days - nearly double the previous record - after September's election, in which they all lost significant ground.

It puts an end to five months of political uncertainty in Europe's largest economy - the longest the country has been without a government in its post-war history.

Merkel will head a much-changed new cabinet, with the governing parties - which are traditional rivals - keen to send signals of renewal. There are new faces in the most important posts, the Finance, Foreign, Economy and Interior Ministries.

Merkel was able to take office only after two-thirds of the Social Democrats' members approved in a ballot the coalition deal clinched last month.

At least 35 coalition politicians did not support her on Wednesday, though that was in line with results at the beginning of her two previous "grand coalitions" of Germany's biggest parties.

She will have to hold together what is potentially her most fragile coalition yet in what is widely expected to be her last term, while also addressing challenges such as a potential Europe-US trade war and seeking agreement with France and others on the future of a fractious European Union.

Thorsten Faas, a political science professor at Berlin's Free University, said the coalition is likely to last until 2021 as scheduled and noted that the governing parties have demonstrated that they can work together.

"A firm foundation, and I think this government has one, is important to be able to work in uncertain times," Faas told ZDF television, adding that "So I think there is some reason for optimism."

TEHRAN (FNA)- Kurdish sources in Northeastern Syria disclosed once again on Monday that the US troops have conducted heliborne operations to rescue a number of entrapped ISIL commanders who had escaped to Northern Hasaka province after losing the war in Iraq.

TEHRAN (FNA)- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the longstanding Israeli siege on Gaza Strip has led to deteriorated living conditions of approximately two million Palestinians in the blockaded coastal enclave.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a message felicitated Angela Merkel on her reelection as the Chancellor of Germany, voicing the hope that bilateral ties between Tehran and Berlin would expand based on mutual respect and common interests.

TEHRAN (FNA)- A US-Israeli plot to launch attacks against Damascus from several fronts in collaboration with the NATO, Israel and Jordan failed, sources revealed on Monday as the Syrian army carried out successful operations in Eastern Ghouta.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian foreign ministry said the French top diplomat, Jean-Yves Le Drian's adamant stance on Iran's missile and regional power after he was briefed about Tehran's policy during a recent visit to the Asian nation is a source of regret and display that talks with some Western statesmen might lead to nowhere.

TEHRAN (FNA)- More than 79,000 civilians have left terrorist-held regions in Eastern Ghouta via humanitarian corridors for safe zones controlled by the Syrian Army troops, the spokesman for the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria said on Monday.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Rapporteur of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini rapped Washington for numerous violations of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the world powers.

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of the Iranian Border Guards Brigadier General Qassem Rezayee said the country's border guard who was wounded in a 2017 cross-border attack in Southeastern Iran and was then taken by the terrorists to Pakistan is still alive.

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Turkish Army's new convoy of forces and equipment has entered Southern Idlib, field sources reported on Monday, adding that the Syrian Army has opened fire at regions near the positions of the Turkish troops in Southern Aleppo.